The Glimmer Twins

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I'm reading Keith Richards autobiography called Life. I was a little hesitant to read it because the Stones are my second favorite rock and roll act...and on some days they are my favorite.

I didn't want to hear about how weird they were, or are.

Of course, they are nothing at all like me. They are English. I'm American. They were hard-core druggies, and despite the last week filled with hydrocodene, I'm not. They are world famous billionaires...I have trouble getting a bottle of water delivered to my resting spot in my house.

So we are different.

Still I'm so curious. How did Brian Jones die? Do Keith and Mick really hate each other? Did Keith really have his blood changed out due to excessive drugs as we have our teeth cleaned? Did Mick really sleep with half the people he was supposed to have slept with?

So far, about a quarter of the way through the book I am pleasantly surprised. Keith is talking about his one true love...not all the women...not the money...not the fame...but the music!

Early on, he is only talking of his love of music and how much they wanted to put something together just for themselves out of a love of being creative and making a difference as those who sang before them made a difference to them.

That I can respect.

They had no idea that their arrival on the scene would cause such a reaction. Richards speaks of women passing out and peeing their pants when they walked on the stage. He said that the sound systems were so bad in some of the places that they didn't even sing Stones songs. Mick would sing Popeye the Sailor Man and the women would still swoon.

So at least I have that going for me...now to get down to the drug days and try and figure out how such great music emerged from the smoke of that rock and roll room.

Damn! I gotta go listen to Exile on Main Street.

I just can't wait for the day when my kids beg me to listen to my Stones songs.

I pray that when I finish the book that I still have that idol-like-view of Mick and Keith.

Something tells me I'm going to see it all from a different point of view.

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